Ants.... the other other meat

I just LOVE God's timing..... This year in school we are studying the continents and a few countries on each continent. We started after all of our friends from training had moved to their various locations, so it is fun to talk about who we know that lives in the different countries that we are learning about.

Last week we started learning about AFRICA. Again I say... what timing! We had a week of review and one week of Europe and then we started learning about the very country we are living in!

Our curriculum (My Father's World) uses "The Usborne Living World Encyclopedia" as one of our texts. On page 49 ( for those of you who have a copy) it talks about insect colonies & termites.
This is John taking down the termite mound in our front yard! Hands on Science at it's best!In Uganda termites are called white ants. And I know that this won't come as a surprise to some of you.... but they EAT them!

This is the Queen.... she is a delicacy. I think they prefer her roasted. She looks just like the picture in our book too! You can actually buy white ants in the market. Walking in the market you see: bean, bean, corn, bugs, bean, seeds, rice, bugs..... CRAZY. John's wife made "odii wen", which is ground up ants, for Kent...... and yes...... he ate it! It looks like a dark grainy peanut butter..... which by the way is called "odii something".... odii means paste.

I promise, when you come and visit, I won't serve you white ants or any other type of bug, unless you ask me too. GRIN ;)

Tegot

Last Friday we had a chance to go and visit one of the IDP camps outside of our home city. These camps were started 20 years ago when Koney would raid the villages kidnappings children and forcing them to fight in his army... the LRA ) Lord's Resistance Army. Koney has since relocated to the D.R. Congo, however it is RARE to find someone who wasn't affected by him in some horrible way or another. Our friends have been working in this village for a while. They have people in the US that sponsor kids from the village and they provide them with schooling, and lunch. For some, it is the only meal that they will get all day! They also have an after school program that they do, and they have "Saturday club" as well.

As you can see we were quite the sight. For most of these kids, our girls were the first "Muzngu" child that they had ever seen. (muzngu - white person.... African for "gringo"). The kids at the school couldn't get close enough though they are very shy. Most will shake your hand, and you might get a greeting, however there are some who turn away from you when you reach out to greet them.

This sweet girl wasn't shy and was excited about getting to be Sweet Pea's friend. Going out into the village reinforced our desire to learn the language!! We first really started talking about language lessons after we were having dinner at a restaurant, the conversation when something like this:

Kent: We'll take two pizzas.

Male waiter: We are not having pizzas.

K: Ok, then we will have the roasted pork.

MW: Let me check.......... (long wait)..... we are not having the roasted pork.

K: Fine, then we will have the chicken

MW: We are not having the chicken, either.

K: ......

Later after we had ordered our meal and waited 1.5 hours for it so come out ( one of those meals were you KNOW that they must have had to go and butcher the cow first because it took so long!) The food was good, but we were really disappointed that there was so much that they DIDN'T have on the menu. So we thought we would share our feelings:

K: Thank you so mu (much) ....

Female Waitress: You are very welcome.

K: We were kinda disappointed tha......

FW: Ok good... thank you very much, you're welcome.

Needless to say, we decided that we wouldn't go back there for a while. The point of all that: We are starting language lessons on Monday of next week!

I LOVE this picture. This is Ms Ashley ( the girl we met in the airport) holding a sweet baby. I love the naked bottom! That baby had on NOTHING but that bead belt. Classic African attire!

The Color Yellow

The proof that the investment for the chickens was well worth it. This is a side by side comparison of a "market egg" and a "Forester Fresh" egg. Really.... can you even see the market egg?? It gets lost on in the white of the bowl! We have been averaging about 6-7 eggs a day, so there are a few that are up to every day production while most are every other day layers. We love them non-watery eggs!!

Jinja and the Capital

Here are some pictures of our trip up north to pick up Lady. Emma and Simon playing on the beach of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa!

Some Weaver birds in a tree at the resort in Jinja where we stayed on night. It is hard to tell from the picture, but these birds are making a nest by weaving grass together. They create a round structure that has a small place to sleep, as well as a door on the bottom. AMAZING!!

Checking out a nest that had fallen out of the tree. Too cool!

It is kinda dark but this is lake Victoria, and the "source of the Nile". The resort where we stayed was started by a MK and he gives discounts to missionaries. It was nice, but very affordable..... rumor has it that he is building a third resort here in our home town!! You to can have an awesome African experience, we would love to have you!!!

The Coop

Here is the new chicken coop. Honey had to look all over for good chickens to put in to the new coop. While he was waiting he had some boxes made for the chickens to lay their eggs in. The box was for 6 chickens. When he finally found a chicken seller and he told him how big the coop was, the man said that 6 wasn't enough. You need 10 he said. So Honey came home with ten. Some of you have asked.... and no we don't have a 24 hour noise maker (aka rooster)..... yet. I think we might get one so we can have chicks and give them away. And yes I like the suggestion that the chicken(s) with the best egg production wins.... but I'm not sure how to keep up with the count. No one is usually outside when the eggs are layed..... so who's to know which egg came from which chicken, not me.

The six boxes that were made... apparently some of them share nests, cause we find multiple eggs in some of the boxes.

Chowin' down on the yummy corn and mash that gives their eggs that wonderful golden color. Honey is supposed to pick up a few eggs at the market today, so we can show you the color difference.

Lady

For the past three years (since we moved to Waco and had to find new homes for our pets) we have promised the girls that once we moved to Uganda we would get a dog. We had only been in the country a few days when they started asking about when and what kind. Last week we heard about some German Shepard pups in Jinja. They were ten months old and had already been trained in some commands. The girls immediately started thinking of names.

Some on the list included : Lily, Crispen, Fingal, and Cedar. When we arrived in Jinja we quickly were able to narrow down the choices between Max and Lady. We chose Lady. And since Lady wasn't one of the names on our original list we added Cedar making her Lady Cedar in honor of "Queen Cedar of Mistmantle"
Here she is after a long night's work. Seeing that she is a guard dog more than a pet we will let her be lazy (for the most part) during the day.

Lady and Curly posing for a picture. She stays chained up most of the morning. Her routine is something like this: guard, get put in the kennel, eat breakfast, chill out on the chain, after lunch play with her "pack", chill on the front porch, eat dinner, guard. Easy life!

She is a really good dog, sweet and gentle with the kids, but could be threatening if she needed to be. Right now we keep her away from every one but family.... so she won't think that every one in the compound is a friend. We have to set boundaries so she will be aggressive with people she doesn't know. She can sit, lie down, heal and kinda stay, when she wants to.

Because she has spent her whole "life" on a chain, she is unlike most dogs that we have ever owned. You know how most dogs pester you for your attention..... she doesn't do that. We have to ask her to come to us. and when we are finished petting her, she doesn't nudge our hand for more attention... she goes back to her corner and sits back down! CRAZY! But I kinda like it!

We love having her..... Honey and Baby Girl enjoy singing to her: "You're our Lady and we're your clan". Thanks Kenny for that inspiration!

C-H-I-C-K-E-N ...

Ok my post is really about chickens.... but I will have to get back to that. While writing the title I was flooded with memories from camp! There was this crazy song that we sang that went something like this:

C - is the way to begin and
H - is the next letter in and
I - is the middle of the word and
C - you have already heard and
K - is a Kind of a friend
E - we are nearing the end.

C H I C K E N that's the way to spell chicken!

Does anyone (other than my BFF) remember that song, or have ever heard of it?? who would write such silliness?? it really makes no sense at all!!

So anyway.... back to the chickens.

In Africa people rarely feed their chickens much, and as a result the yolks are pale and watery. They can really be quite disgusting at times.... which can be a challenge, when you can't have milk due to allergies and there is not a huge supply of meat to be found. Eggs are one of my favorite sources of protein..... unless they are disgusting watery eggs.

In the US I could eat two eggs for breakfast and be good to go..... here make it 3 or 4 easy! We FLY through eggs on the day that every one wants some for breakfast.

I say all that to say that this week we got 10 hens! Somehow, Honey decided that chickens would be a great idea! That they would be a huge blessing and we could help some of our neighbors, by giving them eggs... or better yet baby chicks!

HOWEVER.... when we total up the $ spent on building the coop, getting the supplies, stocking up on food, and purchasing the hens themselves (we got 10).... we discovered that each chicken would have to lay AT LEAST 170 eggs before she had made up the initial investment. And after they all had laid their eggs.... they would have to draw straws and two would have to become dinner as well!

Hopefully they will each lay an egg a day (that would be 10 a day).... for over 24 weeks!

The girls and I are going to graph their egg production.... day 1: two eggs!

Once there is a significant difference in the color.... I will post some pictures so you can see why, it really doesn't matter the cost so long as we have golden yellow eggs to eat!!!

Cluck Cluck

Timely rain

In order for this post to really hit home I have to back up a few days (even weeks) and really make myself vulnerable



Our Home City is hot and dry right now..... dry to the point of rationing water. If you are not careful, you might run out. We have before and it is not fun!! Dry season usually lasts until March. In the midst of heat and dryness I keep remembering a question that was asked of me before we moved... "When it is hot and dusty and you miss home.... will you still know that you know this is were God called you?"



I know that I know.... but some times I wonder about the passion I have about it. I have been reading "Through the Gates of Splendor" by Elizabeth Elliot, and I am convicted by the passion of these men. The book is full of quotes from their diaries that will cause you to rethink your calling and commitment. This morning I was reflecting on my passion, and really felt like I came up short.



I was listening to "Barren Land" by Shane & Shane.... and felt my heart crying out for the presence of the Lord to rain down on me. I want to be full, over flowing, producing fruit.... .but until it starts raining there won't be much to see.



Fast forward a little.... Kent came home with all his market finds this afternoon. We were in need of a trash can, and a few plastic basins as well as another fan. We have needed these items for a while... but we haven't had the time to go and hunt them down until today. He also brought home, different fruits and veggies that needed to be washed and sterilized.



Beginning dinner preparations, I made a startling discovery. We were out of water. There was nothing left in our reserve tank. I wasn't sure what we were going to do. Last time we ran our of water, we were staying in a Guest House, and they were kind and brought us full jerry cans so we could at least wash dishes, bodies, and maybe flush once or twice.



While pondering the problem large, dark clouds began moving in. We were amazed, really in AWE of the timing. WE took the new trash can out side, along with the new basins and prepared them as rain catchers. Then we started looking around for anything else that might hold water.



My pots, bowls and Tupperware all made the final selection. At first we weren't sure if it would actually rain. The clouds looked like they might pass us by, but then the heavens opened up and water started pouring!!

As little pots and bowls would fill up, the girls would pour them into the jerry cans and basins. We had an awesome water collecting brigade going. It was raining so hard that it only took a few moments for each of the buckets to fill up. We needed more buckets, something else to hold water, but all my cabinets were empty. "Lord... give me creativity! What can we use??"

TRUNKS! Sitting in the corner of the dining room there were four empty trunks!! I couldn't believe it. I grabbed two and headed out side, threw them open, then headed back in for the other two. We are cooking, and filtering rainwater now. Before, we had nothing yet we never went without!! God is truly amazing!!

After all the excitement was over, and I was thanking Jesus for the inspiration, He reminded me of my plea for him to rain on me!! WOW!!! How humbling. It isn't really supposed to rain for another few weeks... God gave us a Miracle!

THANK YOU!!! NOW LET ME BE FRUITFUL!!

Our home is a nice large three bedroom home, located in the senior quarters, where the English first settled how ever many years ago. There is one giant bathroom.... and two closet type bathrooms... one holds the shower and the other has the potty. Both "closets" have a small sink as well. I'm glad that it doesn't get cold here... or else I would NOT agree to having a giant bathroom!!This is our porch. The floor is covered in a tile that is supposed to resemble rocks... it is kinda coo looking. We have traditional African porch furniture (on the right) and the third seat to the van (on the left) as seating options. We really enjoy the mornings... it is very cool and pretty at that time of day!

This is a view of the girls room. We decided to put them all in the Master so that we could use the other room for school. They each have their own double poster bed, complete with mosquito netting! Plenty of room for them to double up when we have company (HINT HINT) They have spent the last three weeks sharing twin beds, so to have a double all to themselves.... WOW!

This is a shot from the corner of the living room into the dining room.... we got an extremely small dining table with the idea that we will have a custom one built in a few months. We have 2- two seater couches that go with the chair that you see in the picture. They look funny in such a large area.... but we will fill in with more stuff (plant and thinks) sooner or later.

This is part of the school room... I had a hard time getting to zoom far enough our on my camera to really get a good shot of all the different rooms...... Each girl gets their own desk. I know we are probably spoiling them now.... but they were super cheep, and I was really tired "quit shaking the table" and "get you stuff of my side" and other such sibling phrases... so really it is Mommy that is getting spoiled here :)

Another shot of the school room... Love the giant book shelf it holds EVERYTHING and the spaces are large enough that all my tall books can be shelved the right way, and not on their sides anymore!! Woo Hoo!

This it the 10' tall fence that surrounds our "compound". No we are not living like David what's his name.... that is what they all homes that have a fence with barbed wire around them. There is a metal security gate, and a little "shack" for a guard too, if we want to hire one to be our watchman.

This is the view outside our gate... that is the drive way. I'm curious to see what it looks like during rainy season. We have been told that this is the absolute hottest time of the year, and if you can survive January and February you are gold!Last but not least.... here is the Van! It is obviously several feet taller than most vans, especially around here, so you can imagine the stares that we get climbing out. Not to mention our four, lovely blond haired daughters... they are something too!

Honey's favorite feature is the sleeping/storage compartment up on top! It is a great place to but extra luggage when picking up friends from the airport (HINT HINT). It can hold nine comfortably, but more could squish if need be. It hauled all FIVE of our beds (solid wood beds) back from the capital. We are going to go camping in it soon. There is and awesome place near here where you can go camping... that would be so cool!!

It's here!

It's the post with all the pictures... their not much to see, but they are the pictures that go with some of my earlier posts.

The U-haul full of all our stuff.... some of that went back to Lubbock.

Waiting for the next plane.... we are leaving the COUNTRY!Crashing after we arrived in the Capital!The guest house where we stayed the first few days! Very nice... and they have an AWESOME internet connection that we haven't been able to get ANYwhere else!Washing the laundry!Getting help with the laundry.Lettin' it ALL hang out! :)The LOOOOONG BuMpY road to get to our home city! Those speed bumps were put there on purpose, to help keep the roads from getting torn up. They can go for MILES at a time.... fortunately they remove them after the road has cured well. Our second trip up north, went so much faster because they had already removed a lot of the bumps!The FOG guest house where we stayed our first week kin our new city!

Battle wounds from the night the mosquitoes ate at the all you can eat blood buffet!

I have taken more.... but my battery on the camera died before I could get everything downloaded..... soon I will have pictures of the van, of our home city and our friends. You may have to wait a while before you get to see pictures of the capital... I want/need to take a picture of the traffic so that you have a better idea why the Van Guy was so excited thatHoney was driving himself.

It's late..... almost 1am.... and we start school in the morning! Can't wait for that!

Favor

Favor.... My husband seems to have it where ever he goes.... many of you can testify to that!

So when we arrived in here, we met a sweet young lady (22) who is here for 8 months working in our home city.... she was on both flights that we had, and we didn't really meet her until we landed and Honey helped her get her luggage out to the car. We have since met her coworker as well and are quickly establishing a great relationship with both young women!! Thank you Jesus for giving me friends!! That is a huge answer to prayer.

These ladies, Ms. Ashley and Ms Chrissy are here with us in the capital, and we are really enjoying their company, and so are the girls! It is great... when we go out and are walking on the streets, there is an adult for each child! AWESOME!

Saturday morning was our big shopping day where we went to several stores and bought all the stuff that we need, but wouldn't fit in our trunks. Mops, brooms, dishes, pillows, fans, emergency lights, hand soap.... you get the idea. Before we left on our excursion, Honey prayed and asked God for favor, he asked for opportunities to share and be a blessing.

You will never believe what happened next.........





GOD answered!




Didn't see that one coming did ya! First stop was coffee beans. Not top in my priority list, but Honey wanted/needed it so we began the hunt. The first store that we were looking for, was non existent, so we had to go with option B. Honey and Ms. Chrissy went in to get the beans... the rest of us waited in the car. We waited and waited and waited.... and had reached "that point" when they returned with the an answer to prayer.

While in the store they asked a VERY pregnant woman if they could pray for her, and when others saw what was going on they started to get in line. Even the employees, left customers waiting, so that they could receive prayer! In the end it was worth the wait! God allowed us to be a blessing!

Later, Honey had his first fender bender. Now usually in Uganda, when you get into a minor accident like the one we had..... most Ugandans are going to get all that they can out of you... especially if you are white. However the gentleman that we "ran into" is a professor at the university, and was very kind. VERY kind. He wasn't angry and was totally understanding. They exchanged numbers and information... when Honey called him later, the professor told him that the estimate he got on having the car repaired was $90. That is it... $90. Thank you LORD for allowing us to back into a gracious honest man!!

While we have been here getting established, we have been attending the Wototo church. They have the main church here in the Capital, but they also have several church plants as well, one of them being in our home city. They have a very similar vision for what we want to do, and why we moved here in the first place. During all of our training we have been encouraged to work with others that are doing what we want to do.... no reason to re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

The service last week, while we were in our home city, was dead on as far as what we want to see happen in Gulu..... the pastor even gave numbers.... if 20 of us reach just 1 person this year, and next year 40 just reach one person.... They see it, they are right on the edge and it is so exciting!

I say all this to say that while we were out buying all our household goods.... Honey saw the head pastor of the Wototo church! We wasn't going to say anything, but he prayed real quick and felt like he should... and the pastor was very encouraging, suggested that we visit with the pastor in our home city and said that they want to partner with anyone that is expanding the Kingdom! YEA!!! Sometimes this almost seems too easy..... PLEASE PRAY that it stays easy!

I am sure there are other stories... like Honey getting "pulled over" for running a red light on Friday. The police literally blow a whistle and point a finger and you have to pull over. No cars, no lights, nothing but their finger! Anyway.... Honey unknowingly ran a red light, and the officer was very gracious and let him off with out a ticket....

That was Friday, today (Sunday) he got pulled over, at the same intersection, by the same officer. Saturday, Honey begged the man not to give him a ticket.... He asked him for mercy, and he didn't understand, but when we asked for grace.... he knew what Honey needed. Today, he wasn't feeling so gracious..... Honey was ready to pay the ticket... but was really confused as to why that intersection is the ONLY one where the law is enforced, so he asked the officer, who's name we later discovered is James. Officer James couldn't really give and explanation. Kent asked and asked for him to explain why the motorcycle he had been following was allowed to run the red light, but he couldn't, or why Officer James let several other cars run the light before he pulled over the truck (while he was talking to Honey).

Finally, he let us go... maybe it was because he couldn't explain and felt guilty, maybe it was because Honey was willing to pay the ticket and not bribe him out of it.... who knows, but God gave us an out, again!

God has been so good.... giving us friends, helping us meet key people, protecting us from people with evil intentions.... and all the while teaching us how to depend on Him for all of our needs, big and little, from local banks to coffee beans... he has open doors for us!

Peace

We have been in the capital for the past two nights. A lot has happened since we arrived.

We got our van... it came to our home city to pick us up and then the next morning my Honeydrove us to the Capital. Our friend (Van Guy) was amazed that Kent wanted to drive right off the bat... "You are jummping in with both feet and you are going to make it!" We are trying to tackle as much of this as we can on our own... simply so that we can learn. That was how we learned how to get around Waco... we had friends that got us lost on purpose so that we would HAVE to start figuring it out!

We made it to the capital with no major accidents (or minor ones for that matter). However once we arrived at Van Guys house, we had a slight hiccup. Van Guy's yard is really cool.... after a long car ride it was great for the kids to get out, jump on the trampoline, and swing on this AMAZINGLY cool swing. After every one got hot and sweaty, we were sitting around while the workers looked at one of the windows on our van. Van Guy has two dogs, both big and powerful and meant to scare intruders, we will start looking for that exact kind of dog once we get settled.

Rusty was very lovable... he would lean up against you, push under my legs, nudge your hand for more loving, and simply enjoy your attention. Baby Girl, knowing that we was lovable, reached down to give him a hug around the neck. This startled him and he whipped his head around and bit her. GOD was SO good in that fact that Rusty could have taken part of her face off, again he is a very powerful dog and his tooth could have scraped her eye instead of just under it. The whole incident shook us all up more than anything. You can hardly see it now, it is more of a bruise than anything else. I would have taken a picture for the blog.... she even asked if I was going to, but I left my camera at home.

We stayed the night at the ARA... and American hotel, complete with fajitas!! We will be eating there on a regular basis when we are in the capital. The beds were AMAZINGLY soft after sleeping on a broken bed with a foam mattress. We had a great night.

The next day we started our furniture shopping! We had looked and priced several places, trying to learn what is cheaper in the capital and what is cheaper in our home city. We had already talked to a few guys about our school room stuff. It is a crazy site seeing a mass (6-8) of men swarming you trying to get you to buy from them. There are several furniture outfits along one road... all the furniture looks extremely similar, but as you get closer you can see subtle differences: better varnish and finishing, nuts and bolts instead of nails... So we picked out 4 desks and four chairs and two book shelves, a large one for school books and a small one for the living room and we shoved the whole lot into our van!

The furniture guys didn't think that they would fit.... but they did! ALL of it! We bought a big van with an extended top and extended rear end and took the last two rows of seats out while we were in our home city.... we have room for DAYS! (we have room to pick up large teams and families..... start planning!) We also ordered our dressers and our beds that same day, we will pick them up on Tuesday!

Things are slowly coming together.... We stayed in a different guest house last night the MAF guest house. The girls and I have had a peaceful day here while Honey is out collecting appliances. We have enjoyed a cool breeze and cloudy weather, I think there is some sort of "mountain" range that keeps the cool weather that is in the capital from reaching our home city. It has been very nice, the girls have been playing outside in the compound, making things out of the plants and imagining that they are princesses!! WHAT FUN!! I have read more books during these last few weeks.... I am starting to loose track! I will be ready for what ever lies ahead once we are in our house!

THANK YOU JESUS for rest and relaxation! You see to our every need!!